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A gang of three has been sentenced to a combined 75 years in jail after pleading guilty to 32 charges by the High Court in Accra.
The convicts, Ishmael Akyene alias Israel Nana Damascus, Daniel Akpan alias Nseh alias Danny and Mbuotidem Edem alias Faith, all pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy, robbery, rape and possession of firearms without lawful authority.
The charges comprised of 12 counts of conspiracy, 16 counts of robbery and three counts of rape and possession of firearms without lawful authority.
The Criminal Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh after convicting them on their own plea, sentenced them to 24 years for robbery, another 24 years for rape and 25 years for possession of firearms without lawful authority.
The convicts are to serve their sentences concurrently, meaning they will serve only the highest of the three punishments, which is 25 years.
Justice Yanzuh said the convicts are to serve their sentences in hard labour after considering all the mitigating plea from defence lawyer Sani Rashid and the response from the prosecution led by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs. Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa.
The court also ordered for the confiscation a Kia Rio vehicle and guns retrieved from them, while the implements used during the commission of the crime were ordered to be destroyed.
The monies retrieved, GH¢8,500 and other currencies, as exhibits were to be disbursed to the rightful owners.
The convicts were said to have robbed volunteers from the UK who were in Ghana to partake in a charity project planned by Partnee West Africa. They also had unprotected sex with six of the victims and raped a married woman twice.
Mitigation
Sani Rashid, counsel for the convicts, in his plea for mitigation said the court should take into consideration the fact that the convicts showed remorse and did not waste the time of the court.
Ex-Convicts
Responding to the plea of mitigation, the DPP, Mrs. Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa told the court that all three convicts are already known to the law.
She said they have been convicted by the lower court for robbery.
She also told the court that the convicts also have dockets before the Office of the Attorney General yet to be processed.
Brief Facts
Per the brief fact, the complainants are British nationals and a United Kingdom (UK) registered charity that operates in Ghana.
The prosecution said on December 8, 2018, a group of 12 volunteers comprising six male students, four female students, two teachers (one male and one female) visited Ghana from the UK to partake in charity projects.
The prosecution said when the volunteer group was constituted in the UK, they spent a year conducting fundraising activities.
It said each of the 12 volunteers came with a suitcase full of donation items, and the group left the United Kingdom at about 5:00am, transited through Portugal and Togo and arrived at the Kotoka International Airport at about 11pm.
The complainants, it said, went to meet them with a bus and sent them to a guesthouse, near Muuston Beach, Oshiyie, near Kokrobite, Accra.
The complainants introduced the group to Naa, the cook, and Isaac, who was responsible for maintenance, the prosecution disclosed.
After the introduction, the complainants gave the group security and safety briefing, and showed them around the house.
The prosecution said, whilst Naa was leaving the main house for her room, she found the accused persons at the door.
“The accused persons who were armed with guns, a knife, taser and a long metal, forced the door open and found most of the group members in the corridor outside the girls’ room,” the brief facts stated.
“The accused persons ordered all of them to enter the girls’ room and made them lie down on the floor. Sandy was however asked to lie on the bed, and they covered the heads of the victims with sheets, blankets and towels, and informed them that they had to cooperate with them.”
It said, “With their weapons in hand, the accused persons stripped those among the fifteen victims who had bum bags and backpacks on, of their bags and took what they liked from them.”
Stolen Items
It added that the accused persons made the victims disclose their PIN codes to their bank cards.
The prosecution said all the accused persons forcibly had unprotected sex with six of the female victims, with the third accused raping one married victim twice.
“The accused persons operated quietly and spent about three hours in the guesthouse, and they rummaged through the rooms and suitcases of the victims and eventually left the property at about 4:00am with their booty,” it added.
The prosecution said when they eventually left, “the female victims went to the Finney Hospital and Fertility Centre where they were examined, and swabs were taken from each of them.”
It said “upon the arrest of the accused persons, swabs were taken from them and subjected to DNA analysis.
“The outcome showed that semen was found on three out of the six swabs taken from the six sexually assaulted female victims, and the DNA in the semen matched the DNA of each of the accused persons.”
The prosecution said the victims who came from the UK left for the UK the same day. One of the victims whose bank card was taken received messages from his bank which indicated withdrawals made.
The IMEI numbers of some of the mobile phones the accused persons stole from the victims were obtained and they assisted in detecting the location of the accused persons.
The first accused person was eventually arrested, and he led the police to arrest the second accused person.
The first and second accused persons took police to the third accused person’s house, but he managed to escape through the roof of his house and left for Nigeria.
The police however found the third accused person’s Nigerian passport in his room, and same was taken for evidential purpose.
He was subsequently extradited from Nigeria to stand trial in Ghana.
